Redmond fugitive caught after pickup stolen on test drive
A wanted Redmond man suspected of passing bad checks was arrested Friday in northeast Oregon after he allegedly failed to return a pickup truck from a test drive and an Oregon State Police trooper used spike strips to stop a pursuit on Interstate 84.
Shawn Robert Lee, 54, was the subject of a Jan. 10 Crime Stoppers report on NewsChannel 21 as Redmond police asked the public to help find him. He was suspected of passing bad checks on a stolen bank account several times in the Bend-Redmond area.
Around 4 p.m. Friday, OSP troopers in La Grande and Pendleton were advised to be on the lookout for the stolen silver Chevrolet Silverado.
It was reported that Lee had taken the truck on a test drive from Goss Motors in La Grande and failed to return after 90 minutes. A check of the ID given to the dealership found Lee had a valid misdemeanor probation violation warrant out of Deschutes County.
The pickup was found parked in the parking lot of Wildhorse Casino, troopers said. Umatilla tribal police were contacted and were looking for the driver in the casino when he got back to the pickup, spotted a patrol car and got in to leave, troopers said.
Officers tried to stop the pickup, but the driver refused to yield and a pursuit began, which was terminated a short time later for safety reasons.
The pickup was spotted again by a La Grande OSP trooper, heading east on I-84 at milepost 243, troopers said. The trooper used spike strips on the pickup and Lee made it to about milepost 249, where the freeway was shut down briefly while he was taken into custody without further incident.
Lee was being held Monday at the Union County Jail on felony charges of possession and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, attempt to elude police, second-degree burglary, failure to appear in court and the probation violation warrant.
Redmond police Lt. Curtis Chambers said Lee likely will be arrested on local charges when he’s returned to Deschutes County, but he said “there’s no telling” when that might be — “it could be days or weeks.”
